


Late-night Reading

by pinefree



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-25 05:37:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3798736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinefree/pseuds/pinefree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dipper attempts a tarot reading. Bill messes it up. // nonsense</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late-night Reading

Perhaps the most irritating thing about Bill was the inconsistency.

Here one moment and gone the next—his gestures weren’t diabolic usually. Untying Dipper’s shoes, stealing his socks…mild annoyances. These only seemed to plague Dipper however, as Mabel and Stan were blissfully unaware of any of the happenings. Typically, they wrote them off as a product of Dipper’s paranoia, insisting that a being of cosmic energy had better things to do than pester a teenage boy. 

Unless that demon was Bill, of course.

In his later years, Dipper tipped his toe into the art of magic. Collecting as many spell books and encyclopedias as possible, he began studying to satiate his curiosity. Being mortal, he supposed that magic would be his only hope for protection against the supernatural beings that seemed to shadow him wherever he went. Not to mention that it was fascinating, with dizzying amounts of information, spells, and ideologies to learn about. Having read the journals thousands of times, it was refreshing to have some new material to pour over.

After months of simply reading, studying, learning, he decided it was time to test out divination. He wasn’t exactly a tea drinker, so reading tea leaves was out. Runes were appealing in the symbolism, but Dipper wanted a change from the usual ciphers and decoding. The last option was reading tarot cards. 

Dipper flipped through the small book he had picked up at a local used bookstore, glancing over the different spreads and meanings of the cards. He decided on a simple beginner spread, meant to guide the reader in simple questions. It seemed like a good place to start. Absentmindedly playing with the crystal around his neck, he tried to get in the mood.  
Which, in the Mystery Shack, was impossible.

Mabel’s shrieks were audible even from upstairs in his room, and Stan’s hearty laugh echoed soundly throughout the house. Chaos seemed to be a constant state of being, unfortunately. Dipper sighed and sat, lighting some candles to illuminate the dark room. It was close to midnight with a full moon. Perfect time for a reading.

Settling in, Dipper breathed in slowly and closed his eyes, attempting to cleanse his mind and open it up to whatever energies were about to come through. In his mind’s eye, he pictured himself wandering around his own Mindscape, looking for something… 

A flash of yellow triangle and glowing eye.

He jerked and opened his eyes, deciding that was enough meditation for the moment. The candles danced under the window, which still held the ominous image of Bill Cipher, moonlight shining through. That image seemed to follow him everywhere, haunting him almost. Except Bill was actually haunting him, poking and prodding at him every so often to remind Dipper that he was still around, but not tangible. He saw all, knew all, and Dipper was a plaything. 

Drawing three cards, he placed them facedown in front of his crossed legs. Hand hovering over the first card, he thought hard, asking to be shown his past with Bill Cipher. What had it meant? What was still affecting him even now, years later? 

He turned the card over. 

Fool.

Very funny. He could almost hear Bill’s laughter in his ear, high and obnoxious. Well, he couldn’t exactly disagree. At twelve years old, he supposed foolish would have been an appropriate description. Making deals with a demon, allowing him into your mind… Right. Moving on.

The present. Concentrating again, he pictured his energy flowing through his arm and down to his fingertips, turning the card over again…

Death. Upside down? He briefly consulted his spread book again, looking for the entry on the Death card. His mind began to race at the possibilities. Was he going to die? Was Bill going to kill him?

Ah, no. It seemed that Death, in reverse, was… resistance to change. The inability to move on.

He suddenly felt that he was being intently watched. Watched and ridiculed.

“Very funny, Bill,” Dipper called aloud. “Who can’t move on? You’re the one hanging around here.” 

Silence. Of course Bill ignores him when he actually reciprocates the attention. 

Time for the final card. The card that Dipper most worried about, seeing the pattern that had just emerged. The future was uncertain, and Bill could certainly manipulate it to his advantage. A brief feeling of anxiety taxed Dipper’s heart, but he was endlessly curious anyway. He breathed out sharply.

In his head, he called for the card to show him his future with Bill Cipher, whatever it may be. His fingers grasped the card, turned it over…

Lovers?

Strange choice. Dipper blushed a bit, now almost certain that Bill was messing with his cards. Why that, of any card? And why for the future? Considering the possibilities, Dipper felt his head spin. Why would Bill do this? If it was to mess with Dipper’s head, it was certainly effective. 

Gathering up his cards, Dipper blew out the candles. Enough for tonight. Maybe he should go somewhere more private next time he read tarot, to avoid any interference from nosy demons. Still… he was flattered. It could have gone a lot worse, he supposed. Lovers, though?

He fell asleep that night warmer than usual.


End file.
